Bryant Tutas

Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC

Hi Folks. I've received several emails lately from newer members asking me questions about Blogging and how to get started and I thought this post may help. As some of you may know I have been a member of ActiveRain for almost 5 years. In fact I was member number 871. Now there are over 200,000 members!!! Needeless to say I've seen a lot of changes and seen a lot of members come and go.

Also, I want to point out, that I am NOT an expert Blogger. I don't have any rules and regulations to shove at you and strongly feel everyone should do their own thing. My only rules are to try and do your best, respect your fellow members and follow the ActiveRain guidelines. Other than that, have at it.

Thispost contains my thoughts on blogging. Why I write, what I write and my opinion of what ActiveRain is to me, for whatever it's worth.

Ok, so here goes.

What makes for a good post? A good post, in my opinion, is something that is written for the benefit of the reader and gives them an inside look at the writer's personality. My posts have always been geared towards providing little tidbits of information that may help someone in their business. Hopefully I have achieved this in some small way. Also, I want consumers to be able to get to "know" me by how I write. So far, my current and potential customers, have given me good feedback, so again, I think I have achieved my goal.

I want all of my posts to fit in with the general theme of my Blog. I want my posts to be consistent in nature. I think in order to keep the readers coming back they have to know what to expect. So what is the theme of your Blog? Have you ever thought about that? If not, you should.

Who is your audience? Always remember, if it is not a "members only" post, then the consumer can find it and read it. Are you portraying yourself in the way you would want a potential customer to see you as? Are you giving them information they can use or a reason to contact you? Are you being yourself or trying to morph into what other Bloggers expect you to be? Has someone criticized your posts and because of that you changed the way you write? Well, don't, just be yourself. This is very important. We are all different and that's a good thing. Always grow and be willing to change, but for your reasons, not someone else's.

The length of your post, should be as long as it takes to say what you want to say. I've seen members comment on length and how they don't like long posts or they don't like short posts. Well who cares? If it's interesting it will get read. If it's not interesting, it won't get read. Pretty simple. If you never read a post because it's too long you may be missing out on some good information. But it is your choice. Just don't expect others to write to your preferred length. Concentrate on your own posts. We are all adults and can take care of our own.

Graphics and pictures. Again it's a personal preference. I like pictures and I like graphics. I don't like a lot of them. Personally, I think using too many in a post distracts from the subject mater. They should compliment not distract. But again this is just my opinion. Some people are more visual than others. Find your own style and stick to it. But do make sure it fits into the overall theme of your Blog.

Also, our personal Blogs need to fit into the overall theme of ActiveRain. AciveRain has their own vision of what they want the site to be. This site was created as a tool to help us connect with people in our profession and to participate in a free exchange of ideas. And also to provide good real estate information for potential buyers and sellers. Our profession is Real Estate. Let's stick to the theme. ***This is also a social network. There is nothing wrong with writing social stuff. This is how we get to know each other. And that is very important. Mix it up. Find a balance..

And last but not least, points! Points are a very good thing. They motivate us, they reward us, they help feed our competitive nature and I want more! More, more, more points! But folks, points are a game, they are an enticement. If you are posting for points only, then you are missing the point of AR all together. You are wasting a golden opportunity to be a part of this awesome network and an opportunity to put thoughtful, relevant (to your business) information on your Blog. Who knows, your Blog may just make you some serious money when consumers start finding you.

So these are my thoughts. What are yours?

***I am NOT an Attorney nor do I play one on TV. Click the button below for my Bio.